Look back and call it good

I heard today that Flying J filed for chapter 11. (What a mean thing to do so close to Christmas!) I felt a whoosh of gratitude pass through me (that Bruce no longer worked there). In September when they let Bruce go I felt over and over again that we were going to look back and feel like it was a good thing and that they had really done us a favor. It was a worrisome time, the stock market kept falling, the economy looked worse every day. He had 6-8 opportunities that were looking good when the company he is working for made him an offer. It would have been nice at the time to be able to wait a week or so and see if some of the other opportunities came through but we both felt good about it so he accepted. Within a couple of days Bruce found that because of the economy most of the other companies that were hiring had retracted the opening. We were so grateful that he had accepted the initial offer. Again today I feel so thankful to be able to look back and see the promise of "all things shall work together for your good" fulfilled in our lives.

Gratitude on Black Friday

Katrina, Krysta and I went out shopping at 4:30am to hit the day after Thanksgiving sales. Katrina thinks it is a tradition and really enjoys it. We made a plan the night before and decided where to go and what to look for. We don't have a high tolerence for long lines or standing in the cold or crowds of people. We also have the rule that we can't care if we get what we want, we're just going for fun. We got to Walmart at about 5:20. We laughed at the men with big grins on their faces loading their big screen TV's into their cars. We got inside and all the checkstands were open and lines from each one stretched back into the middle of the store. We were interested in two things, both electronics. A clerk in that department told us that the first one was gone and for the second thing we would need to get in a line that started at layaway and stretched almost back to the tire store. As we were learning this we became separated from Katrina. I looked around and then my phone rang, it was her. When we joined back up she showed us what she had found. She had both of the electronics on our wish list. She said that as the clerk was telling someone else that all of the one product was gone, she looked on the shelf in front of her and saw one. As she picked it up there was the second thing randomly sitting there also. It was amazing, it felt like gift, and I think it was. Later in the day I was saddened to hear of the shoppers in a very similar situation, where in a Walmart in NewYork the crowds were so pushy they bent doorframes, injured multiple people, and killed a man. What a sad thing that they cared more about a "deal" than the people around them. That they would feel like the only way to get ahead was to push and shove and look out for number one. What a comfort to know that we are not alone, the Lord is on our side. He blesses us in abundance with the things we need most and He also blesses us with occasional random gifts as he shows His love for us.

Tricia's scooter

Tricia got a scooter about a month ago. We love it! This is a terrible picture of her but the scooter looks good. It has been wonderful for her and has given her a lot more independence, especially at school. It can be put together or taken apart quickly. It separates into 4 sections plus the basket each weighing 35 pounds or less. That makes it easy to transport with no adaptions to our van. Yeah! Thank-you to the wheelchair guys at Shriner's for suggesting it and making the adaptions and thank-you to MDA and to everyone who contributes to them for helping to pay for it.

Colonial Day

Tricia's class has been learning about colonial times. Today they are finishing up with rotations like butter-making and candle making and then having a feast. Tricia has been so excited and planning to bring a chocolate pie as her contribution (not very authentic but tastey). I had planned to go and help her because her aide couldn't be accessable all day but Katrina said she was willing to do it. We gave Tricia her choice and she choose Katrina. Tricia woke her up yesterday to help her make pies and as we looked for pilgrim clothes for Tricia she dug out things for Katrina to wear too. They looked so cute and happy when I dropped them off at the school. This really frees up my day, hum, what should I do?

Gratitude 3

I realized today that my mouth didn't hurt and I am so grateful for my dentist. His name is Bruce Murdock and he's in American Fork. I accidentally scheduled an appointment with him, thinking he was my neighbor's dentist in 1990. For the years we lived in Bountiful we went to someone else but I liked Dr Murdock so much that I looked him up again in 1996 when we moved back to Utah County.

As he works on you he says things like, "This is looking good", "Wow, this is going so smoothly", and "You let me know if you feel anything because I want you comfortable". Two weeks ago I started with an awful toothache, it came on quickly and within a couple of days I could hardly sleep. Just to be whiny I'm going to add that my entire jaw throbbed and a big sore lump developed in my cheek. I called his office and they had the day off, the next day they couldn't get me in and told me to call the next day. A couple of hours later the office staff called and said they'd mentioned to Dr. Murdock that I was really hurting so he wanted them to call in prescriptions for pain and an antibiotic for me. I was amazed. I have never dealt with a doctor that thought about you unless you were in front of them. I was able to get in the next day and have the work done.

It took a while to heal and for the antibiotics to work but after 2 weeks of hurting, I am jaw-pain free. I feel so grateful to my dentist and it feels so good to feel good. As much as pain and hard times are just, well... hard. It does make me appreciate the easier good times.

Gratitude 2

I am grateful for the seminary program. Camille brought home a test that she had done for her seminary class this week and let me see it. I was so impressed by the nature of the test and also by Camille's answers. A significant part of the test was relooking up scriptures they had studied in class and asking what it meant and especially what it meant as it applied to them. The teacher had made happy positive comments about her answers on the test and had also stuck a sticky note on the front expressing his gratitude for her and her example to others and her participation in class. I was especially proud of Camille when I read that she had made the 30 day club (read her scriptures for 30 days straight) for 3 months.

I feel so grateful that my children have had this opportunity. It comes at a time in their teenage years when they haven't wanted to hear my suggestions anymore and I am grateful to have other adults encouraging and teaching them. All three of my girls started a daily scripture reading habit in 9th grade because it was an assignment in seminary and the older two were able to continue on because it was a habit and hopefully because they had a testimony of its importance. I wish I had been able to be as consistant at such a young age.

Gratitude 1

Tricia came home from school last week and told me a little about her day. The teacher went around the room and had each child tell the class something they were thankful for. Many of the boys were grateful for their computer, the TV, or games systems. She thought those were kind of lame answers. I asked her what she had said. She said she was thankful to be at home this Thanksgiving and have dinner with her family. ( Her goal last year after having surgery was to be home by Thanksgiving. It was only 6 days after her surgery and it turned out she was still too sick. Bruce and the rest of the girls came up in the evening. They had pie day without us and had made dinner by themselves and then had brought us plates of food. They also made all of us Indian headbands to wear as we ate. They were cute and happy and made the day so special. But it was still disapointing to Tricia not to have been home for 4 months, to have wanted to go before Thanksgiving and then not having it happen.) I thought it was such a sweet thing for her to say and asked what her teacher's response was. She thought it was sweet too.

Krysta helping out

On Sunday, I decided to let Tricia have a bath in my jetted tub. Bruce was gone, Camille was still asleep so eventually Krysta got lonely and wandered in. I asked her if she would stay with Tricia while I went and got Tricia's church clothes and if she would take care of any emergency that arose--but of course nothing would go wrong because Tricia was comfortably laying in the tub, feet against the side wall with just a skiff of bubbles that the jets were making. I walked to her room, choose out clothes--seriously, I could not have been gone even two minutes when I heard Tricia scream "AAAAAAHHHH!". I hurried to the bathroom. The entire tub was covered in at least a foot of bubbles and they were climbing up the walls. All I could see were bubbles until I was right next to the tub and saw a little face in there too. Krysta had added body wash to the tub and when the bubbles got out of hand she stood there calmly scooping bubbles off of Tricia's face.

Camille helping out

Camille helped me post yesterday. Despite how easy Katrina says it is, of course I couldn't figure out how to add pictures again. Camille helped me insert the camera and then sat next to me and prompted me on each step. I was following her directions as well as my senile old mind could. We got several screens up at once and I was quite confused. She prompted me, "OK, double click on that" (so I did) . Then she said, "OK, double click..." (I asked her where and she showed me so I did it). Then she said very patiently, "All right, now double-click right there". I thought I had been making such good progress but it was at this point that I realized that nothing on the screen had changed. I had been clicking only once instead of twice. My sweet Camille was being so patient with me that even though I had done it wrong three times she just kept encouraging me without pointing out my mistakes. What an interesting lesson to learn from a 15 year old daughter.

Merry Halloween

Last week we had 80 degree days. Saturday it was rainy. Sunday we woke up to 6 inches of snow all over our Halloween decorations!

A little bit of this..explained

Someone asked me what my blog name was all about. As I brainstormed I had the idea of using something from a musical. My first thought was, (from the musical Annie) Little Girls. Here are some of the lyrics:

Little girls Little girls
Everywhere I turn I can see them
Little girls Little girls
Night and day I eat, sleep and breathe them...
Some women are dripping with diamonds
Some women are dripping with pearls
Lucky me! Lucky me! Look at what I'm dripping with Little girls!...

On second thought maybe some of that isn't too bad, hum..
Actually I felt it described my life of a few years ago better so I opted to use a line from the song "Anatevka ", from Fiddler on the Roof. I love musicals and this is a favorite. The obvious tie-in is "I have 5 daughters!!". I also love that religion is second nature to Tevya's. I love his relationship with God and how he views Him as a friend and discusses things with Him regularly. I love his tenderness about his daughters and his great desire for their happiness even when it causes him discomfort when it isn't following tradition.
So much of my life is about facilitating my daughter's lives. They bring a huge amount of joy to me. My religion is also a big part of who I am and like Tevya, through the ups and downs of life I need a spiritual connection.
I also don't know exactly what my blog will evolve in to. So for now I like the randomness of... a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

I know I'm the target market but...

I can't help liking Sarah Palin. I think she's smart and strong and I like her style. I like that she is 44 and doesn't dress like a 20 year old. She feels real. I like that she began with the PTA and moved along from there. I heard a talk radio personality say today that the democratics have tried to define who the women are in the country with people like Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin scares them because so many women identify with her instead. Maybe it's a cleverly crafted plot but if so I have fallen for it. I have never had more than a passing interest in politics but last night I listened to her whole speech. I laughed at the jokes and cried when she talked about being a friend in Washington to those with special needs children. The silliest thing though is that Tuesday when I went to get my hair cut I asked my neice to show me how to do my hair like Sarah's. I reserve the right to change my mind on the subject but for now try not to laugh at me if next time you see me I'm wearing glasses and have my hair in an up-do.

Tricia and the door

It doesn't matter how long you are in a hospital, half an hour, weeks, or months. The wonderful feeling you get walking out the hospital doors never loses its charm! This was just a short follow-up visit on Aug. 20, 2008. In the background is the revolving door at Shriner's hospital

Dr D'astous

Tricia has been seeing Dr. D'astous since she was 3 years old. He is her orthopedic surgeon at Shriner's Hospital. We sure like him. He is warm and caring and and thinks about the whole child and what is best for them overall. When Tricia was small there were really no good options for many children with infantile scoliosis. A mother from Colorado asked Dr. D'astous if he would meet with a European Doctor and learn a technique that was currently almost unused, halo traction for the spine. This doctor trained him and Shriner's now uses it to delay spinal fusions (traction then bracing then a few years later they will do the traction and bracing until the child grows bigger, and also as in Tricia's case, to get as much correction as possible before a spinal fusion. The Salt Lake Shriner's is one of the few places in the world that do this. What a blessing to have it so close.

Bear Pa Challenge

Several months ago the PR person at Shriner's asked us if he could do a write-up about Tricia and her involvement at Shriner's for a charity benefit. This began a nice little association with the "Think Outside" children's charity and their cycling event for the year--a three day almost 200 mile tour from Bear Lake to Park City. The charity was started by Tyler Hooper (he is on the right side of the check) of Centerville who had done his eagle project for Shriner's and wanted to be able to help more. Tricia and I met them at a kick-off barbeque in July and again at the finish line in Park City last Saturday. They were an incredibly nice group of people. Tyler's brother told Tricia that he had been riding up a very steep hill the second day. He was exhausted and ready to pull over and give up. Then he remembered Tricia, saw her cute face, thought about all she had been through and it inspired him to keep going. He told her he had made it up that hill because of her.

quote of the day

I was trying to convince Katrina to clean up her room this morning. She whined and fussed then sat down on the floor and started sorting the clean from the dirty clothes. Then under her breath she mumbled,"Why can't I have mice that would help me?" Too bad we can't all be Disney princesses, Sorry Katrina.

Merman Blaine

Katrina has been helping me this morning learn how to blog and insert pictures. This is really just a test. Tricia, Krysta and Camille have been doing some creative play. They spread out blue blankets and created a fisherman, alot of mermaids, and (to the dismay of all of our Ken dolls) a couple of mermen.

Meet the Fam

Here's the family. This was taken last August. Thanks to the Bell's next door who arranged us and took the picture. In the back are Katrina, Camille, Staci, and Krysta. In the front are me, Angela, then Tricia and Bruce.